Suspender for artificial legs



Sept. 24, 1946. c. I. KICKLAND 2,408,073 I SUSPEND ER FOR ARTIFICIAL LEGS Filed Jan. 5, 1945 Inventor 1 WWW EM? Patented Sept. 24, 1946 f UNITED STATE SUSPENDER FOR ARTIFICIAL LEGS Clara Ilo Kickland, Aberdeen, Wash.

Application January 5, 1945, Serial No. 571,380

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in artificial legs and more particularly to a harness for suspending the artificial legs from the shoulders of a person and connected to the artificial leg below the knee joint whereby to prevent the buckling of the artificial leg at the knee joint.

An important object of the invention is to provide a shoulder suspension or harness for artificial legs where the leg has been amputated above the knee and to provide straps connected to the artificial leg below the knee joint and at each side thereof to restrict the bending movement of the artificial leg and thus to aiTord better control thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efficient and dependable in use, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detailsof construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view- Figure 3 is a rear elevational view.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional View substantially on the line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a similar view taken substantially on a line 55 of Figure 1, and

Figure 6 is a similar View taken substantially on a line 66 of Figure 3. 3

Referring now to the drawing in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates the leg section of an artificial leg connected to the thigh section 6 at each side thereof by the hinged joint I, the artificial leg being of conventional construction and adapted for the rear pivotal movement of the leg section 5 and restricted in its forward movement thereof.

In order to restrain the rearward pivotal movement of the leg section 5 relative to the thigh section 6, I provide a strap 8 secured to the upper portion of the thigh section 6 circumferentially thereof and having loops 9 carried thereby at circumferentially spaced intervals.

A pair of front inelastic straps l and H are taken pair of rear inelastic straps l2 and I3 are also received in another pair of the loops 9. Y

The lower end of the front strap l I is attached to the rear strap [2 adjacent the lower end of the latter by a ring I4 on the outer side of the thigh 6 and a strap section is attached to the ring I4 and extends downwardly for attaching to a ring l6 positioned in front of the outside hinge I and attached to the leg section 5 by a strap section I! and snap fastener l8.

The upper end of the strap I2 is attached to a ring I 9 to which the upper end of the rear strap [3 is also attached. The rear strap l3 extends downwardly and inwardly under the buttocks of a person and along the inner side of the thigh 6 for attaching to a ring a'nd'which, in turn,

is attached to the leg 5 by means of the straps 2| and 22 also positioned in advance of the hinge member 1 on the inside of the leg and connected thereto by the snap buttons 23.

The lower end of the strap I0 is also attached to the ring 20.

The upper ends of the straps I0 and II are connected to each other in front of the person by a ring 24 and to the ring is attached one end of a belt 25 which extends partially around the waist of the wearer at the side opposite from the artificial leg and is attached to an intermediate portion of a shoulder strap 26 by a rivet 21.

The lower end of the shoulder strap 26 is attached to the ring [9 at the outside of the leg and extends upwardly diagonally across the back and over the shoulder of the wearer thereof opposite from the artificial leg. The shoulder strap 26 then extends downwardly diagonally across the front of the wearer with its lower end attached to the ring 24. The strap 26 is provided with a buckle 28 to adjust the same.

A second shoulder strap 29 is also attached at 0 one end to the ring 24 at the front of the wearer slidably'received in a pair of the loops 9 and a and over the other shoulder of the wearer and is attached to the strap 26 above the belt 25 at a point indicated at 30.

The straps 25, 26 and 29 are preferably of clas- 9 tie material and by means of which a yieldable upward pulling force is exerted on the leg 5 in advance of its hinge joint 1 whereby to restrain rearward swinging movement of the leg.

It is believed that the details of construction and manner of use of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing without further detailed explanation- Having thus described the invention, what I\ claim is: r

1. A suspender for artificial legs having pivotally connected leg and thigh sections, pairs of front and rear straps connected at their lower ends to inner and outer sides of the leg section forwardly of its pivot, the straps of each pair being connected together at their upper ends, a belt and a shoulder strap connected to the upper ends of said pairs of straps and to which the opposite ends of the belt are connected.

2. A suspender for artificial legs having pivotally connected leg and thigh sections,'a pair of inelastic front straps connected respectively at their lower ends to the inner and outer sides of the leg section forwardly of its pivot, a pair f inelastic rear straps connected respectively to the inner and outer sides of the leg section forwardly 4 of its pivot, means connecting the upper ends of the front straps to each other, means connecting the upper ends of the rear straps to each other, an elastic shoulder strap connected to the upper ends of said front and rear straps, a second shoulder strap connected to the upper ends of the pair of front straps and to the first mentioned shoulder strap, and a belt having one end connected to the upper ends of the pair of front CLARA ILO KICKLAND. 

